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ejschultz Build Thread

32K views 203 replies 25 participants last post by  ejschultz 
#1 ·
Well, here's my build thread. For now, it's going to be mostly interior work until I get some cash to work on the suspension. I recently replaced the rear carpet; there will no pictures of that for now as it's just a newer looking stock carpet. I'm working on the stereo right now. There will be pictures coming for that. I did get the PAC-SWI JACK to keep my steering wheel controls. I'll get pictures of exactly which wire is used to make that work properly. Also, working with the Infinity Gold amp with an aftermarket HU can be rather difficult. There's nothing on here that easily shows how to get the HU to turn the amp on for a ZJ so I'll show some pics and let you know exactly how I accomplished that. I'm still working on it for now, well sort of anyways. I had to call it quits for the day because I have class right now... :D. This goes to show how much I pay attention. This probably isn't the type of build thread you all want to know about, but car audio is one of my biggest passions. I figured I'd share my endeavor with you.
 
#2 ·
Okay, here's some pictures of what I've done so far. First, the wire that I'm showing is the black/orange wire in the harness directly on the bottom of the steering column. This wire is the one you cut to use a PAC adapter to interface the steering wheel controls on any Jeep up through 1998. The second picture shows the harness plugged in to where it belongs. The third picture is a finished head unit install. Before I post the pictures I want to let you know what I did with the steering wheel controls and a couple of other things that I couldn't find doing searches on here, or anywhere for that matter. First, the buttons on the left side are now the volume controls instead of the ones on the right. I did this so I could set the middle button as a mute button and have complete volume control from my left hand. The mute will come in handy once I finish my system. The controls on the right are track up and down. (The PAC adapter will let you choose what the buttons do so if you want to keep them the way they are, you can.) The VIC does still work with an aftermarket HU. The clock is no longer contolled by the HU but is set by the VIC itself. Lastly, to get the Infinity Gold amp to turn on with the aftermarket HU, you have to wire the HU's remote turn on to the wiring harness' power antenna lead. These are all things I saw a lot of questions about but no one had any answers to them. Here are the answers. Anyways, on to the pics.





 
#3 ·
so we have almost the same last name, jeep, and stereo...

freaky
 
#4 ·
You've got a 9855? I love that HU. I bought it brand new in '05 for my Caprice. I've since then upgraded to a Pioneer Premier 800 PRS for that and have been saving this one for a new build. The Jeep is a very deserving vehicle for a decent system. I'm going to have more pics to come over the next couple of weeks as I hopefully finish this build. I've already got everything I'm going to be putting in, I just need the time to actually do it.
 
#5 ·
Well.. like I said, almost. I have a CDE-9852. With 2 12" Kicker CVR's and a Kicker ZX750. The stereo is more than just half decent in my Jeep and sounds incredible. I just need to find some tweeters because mine are starting to go.

Btw, you can't have that amp power wire running from the power antenna wire, because it'll only power the amp when you turn on the radio. There should be an amplifier wire somewhere, and if you cannot find it, tap it into the accessory wire. It's the same thing.
You have steering wheel stereo controls? Mind taking a picture of the steering wheel? I've never seen those in a ZJ.
 
#6 ·
I can definitely take a picture of the steering wheel controls for you to see. They're on the back side of the steering wheel. I'll get them up by Monday for you. As far as the amp goes, I've got the remote turn on from the head unit connected to the antenna wire on the wiring harness for the Jeep. According to Crutchfield, that's how you have to do it. The amp stays on as long as my HU is on. It doesn't matter what source. Basically, if you have the Infinity Gold and no power antenna, that's how you have to hook it up. Having a factory power antenna would probably add a whole other mess of problems for you, assuming you'd want to keep the factory amp in there. I'm going to be replacing that with a 2 channel amp and a new front stage eventually. Like I said before on that, I've got everything I need to do everything I want to do, I just need the time to actually do it.
 
#7 ·
Here's the pictures I promised of the steering wheel controls. The passenger side of the steering wheel used to be the volume control. These are now the track/seek buttons. The driver side was the track/seek/p. scan (the button in the middle). That's now volume and the button in the middle is mute. Like I said before, with the PAC adapter, these can be programmed to do almost any feature on the radio. On to the pictures....

Passenger side:



Driver side:

 
#8 ·
Well, here's the finished build...

Getting the amps, crossovers, and some wiring ready:



Drilling for the power wire:


Running the power wire, loomed and sealed with silicone:


Door speakers (Pioneer Premier TS-D520C):



I used the factory tweeter grilles to mount the Pioneer tweeters in the factory locations. This required a bunch of dremel work:


Finished install:



 
#9 ·
Also, to run the wire into the doors, I basically ran new wire up to the molex at the doors, cut the wiring for the speakers, and then tapped into that. The wiring for the tweeters runs all the way up into the dash. A lot of the wiring takes you through some pretty tight situations.
 
#10 ·
Specs on that build:

1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee TSi
Alpine CDA-9855
Kicker ZX-200.2
Alpine MRD-M605
Alpine Amp Link for the 605
Pioneer Premier TS-D520C
Alpine Type X 1043D
1.3 cubes net @ 29 Hz
Rockford Fosgate wiring
Kicker Battery terminals (of which I didn't post any pics)

I spent a total of $440 on this stuff. I'm not counting stuff that I traded that I had sitting around that wasn't getting used or stuff that I had sitting around that I did use in the build. Not too shabby for a budget build.
 
#13 ·
For some healthier info, try and mount the amps onto the back of the seats. It's somewhat bad for the amps to be mounted on the back of the box because everything internal of the amps vibrate and isn't too healthy for them. And what the hell...pioneer speakers/tweeters, and kicker amp, same what I have..again lmao
 
#14 ·
LOL. I have Pioneer Premier comps in my car and I really like them a lot so I bought a set for the Jeep. They're not the same set, but they're almost as good as what I've got in my car. I've had that Alpine 605 forever sitting around and the Kicker I picked up for a killer deal. I would have mounted them to the back of the seats, but they didn't feel too sturdy on there. I figure the amps are going to vibrate regardless of where I put them if they're going to be that close to the box. That box is pretty solid though. It doesn't really vibrate too much, although that Type X is a pretty serious 10" :D.
 
#15 ·
You are correct about getting vibrations regardless of the location mounted, but you're going to be getting the most vibrations if its mounted up onto the box. With it screwed in there, its a solid connection with the vibrations. Just giving you some tips.
Hope to see some more mods in the future. good luck!
 
#17 ·
Vibrations will definitely be in the back of my mind as they were while I was doing the install, but the box is double baffled. You can feel vibrations when you touch the box, but honestly, I think the seats vibrate more. I do appreciate the tips/concern though. Also, there will definitely be more mods in the future. I'm looking at a BB with shocks to get a little lift on it. I'll probably go the extra half inch and get some 31s at that point too. I have 245/75R16 tires now which are 30.46 inch tires. Hopefully I'll have this by the end of summer. As far as the tweeters go, that wasn't my idea so I'm no going to take the credit for that. My friend thought of it as I was looking for some 1/4" MDF to cut up to use for them. His way was much faster and I'm sure it looks infinitely better than any wood adapter would look, although you'd probably never see them anyways.
 
#19 ·
Yeah. They're pretty solid in there. That part of the dash comes off pretty easily too. Pull it up to release all the clips then towards you to release a few more clips that are close to the windshield. I hope you have a good dremel to cut the grilles apart. It wasn't difficult, but there was a lot of plastic that needed to be trimmed for the Pioneer tweeters to fit.
 
#21 ·
I really like it. If you want to keep your steering wheel controls, it's the only way to do so. Either put up with it being slightly delayed or have no steering wheel controls. The delay isn't too bad. It's not as fast as controlling the factory radio, but it's still pretty quick. I don't have the SWI-PS, mine is the SWI-JACK. I would assume that the response on them would be almost identical. What I really like about it is you can program the buttons to do whatever you want them to do. I switched mine and made the buttons on the left the volume controls with the middle button being the mute and the buttons on the right are seek up and seek down. The factory layout is the opposite with no mute but a "P. Scan" button instead.

Personally, I'd definitely recommend this steering wheel interface to anyone. It may not be quite as fast as controlling the factory radio, but I'd hate having 5 useless buttons on the back of my steering wheel more than a very, very slight lag.
 
#22 ·
Well, here's a little more for my build log. I decided to pick up some OEM tow hooks and put them on there so here's some before and after pics. I don't have any pics yet of the Jeep with the bumper back on. You'll have to excuse the pictures I took; they were with my phone because I can't seem to find my camera right now. Also, I just turned 70000 as well :D.





 
#23 ·
Well, I got some new meats today. General Grabber AT2s. I had them before on a Jimmy I previously owned and I really liked them so I got them for the Jeep. They're 235/70R16 which equates to about a 29 inch tire. That's slightly larger than stock (28.5"). Also, in the pics you'll notice that my bumper is back on with the front tow hooks installed. I did get a nice little "Jeep" plate for the front to go on that ugly plate bracket.









 
#24 ·
Okay, a couple of weeks ago I ripped one of the surrounds on my driver door speaker while trying to fix a couple of rattles. Long story short, I replaced them with some PPI 355CS components. As highly regarded as the components are, I did not care for them. The midbass response was typical of a 5.25" speaker and the tweeters really never seemed to warm up. Being an audiophile, I had to change this. I picked up a set of Pioneer TS-D1720C components. They're the same as the Pioneer Premier TS-D520C components I had in there, but they're a 6.75" speaker rather than a 5.25". There's no difference whatsoever between the Pioneer and the Pioneer Premier D series performance wise and because I bought from an unauthorized dealer online, it wasn't worth going to the Premier line because the extra warranty carried by the Premiers wouldn't be honored anyway. Back to the Jeep, I got the speakers installed today. I must say, I am very impressed with the overall sound quality and output from the speakers. The midbass is incredible and the tweeters are smooth and clear. They get a little harsh at higher volumes, but I can EQ that down a little. I did run into a slight issue though. The speakers require two brackets for me to get them installed. One bracket is just to get something to fit where the Chrysler speaker was. The other bracket is there because the speaker's basket is too wide to fit into the other bracket. This causes one of my clips on each door panel to not properly lock into place. It isn't noticeable at all, and it's a small price to pay for the amazing sound these provide. I didn't get any picturess of the speaker installed in the passenger door. If you'd like to see what it looks like, make a mirror image of the speaker in the driver door. Here you go...






The tweeters are in the dash in "custom cut" factory brackets. I love my dremel.
 
#25 ·
Man your jeep is clean! and I love those tsi rims...
 
#26 ·
Lol. It's only clean in those pics. There's actually a ton of little scratches all over it as well as little door dings. It's also covered in mud from a little excursion I went on last week. I haven't had the time/money to run it through a $3 car wash to clean it up. Those black Rubicons look nice as well.
 
#27 ·
Well, a surprise with my Jeep... I'm in the "15 inch club" now. I got a Kicker 10VCVR152. I didn't plan on "upgrading" my sub. I consider this an "upgrade because the Type X was a great sub, I just don't have the power on hand to make it sing. I don't want to match an amp to that sub, I'd rather match a sub to an amp. I'm overall extremely happy with my MRD-M605 so I don't plan on getting something new. The new 15" is actually a pretty decent sub. With the sub turned down on my HU, it blends extremely nicely with my front stage. When I crank it, it really puts out a lot of volume. It's not as clean as the Type X when it's cranked, but it still stays really clean at lower volumes, or high volumes with the sub turned down. For my listening habits, it's a better sub than the Type X.

Pics:


 
#28 ·
Okay, hopefully this will be the last of my audio build for a while. I know you guys probably want to see this thing get lifted. That's next, but for now, here's some pics of my new box for the 15" in the Jeep. It's about 2.55 cubes sealed. Mike at AMI Creations built it for me. I don't have the box yet. I'll get some install pics when I get it in there.






There will be install pics up hopefully before Christmas, weather pending. It's 18 degrees here now and there's about 8 or so inches of snow that's drifting with the wind. :(
 
#29 ·
Keep an eye out for my lift... I picked up a BB for the ZJ. Hopefully I can get it on it before winter break is over. Once school starts back up, I probably won't have time between that and full time work to do it until summer. Also, I'm going to try and get some pics of the new box installed in the Jeep up tomorrow.
 
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